Dinesh Vasu Dash
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Dinesh Vasu Dash | |
|---|---|
ദിനേശ് വാസു ഡാഷ് | |
.jpg) Dash campaigning in the 2025 general election | |
| Mayor of South East District | |
| Assumed office 23 May 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Lawrence Wong |
| Preceded by | Fahmi Aliman |
| Member of the Singapore Parliament for East Coast GRC | |
| Assumed office 3 May 2025 | |
| Preceded by | PAP held |
| Majority | 23,817 (17.46%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dinesh Vasu Dash 11 November 1974[1][2] |
| Party | People's Action Party |
| Spouse | Rathiga Velaithan |
| Children | 3 |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Singapore Army |
| Years of service | Till 2020 |
| Rank | Brigadier-General |
Dinesh Vasu Dash[a] (born 11 November 1974)[1] is a Singaporean politician, former civil servant and brigadier-general. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been serving as Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Minister of State for Manpower and Mayor of South East District since 2025.
Born in Singapore, his paternal grandfather ran a small business servicing the Singapore Naval Base in the 1960s, while his maternal family lived in British Malaya before settling in Singapore.[3]
Dinesh grew up in a one-room Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat at the police quarters in Pearl's Hill. He lived with his parents, brother and grandmother. They later moved to a three-room flat along Telok Blangah Rise.[4] Dinesh's father, a former police officer, had served as the personal security officer to former President Devan Nair and as an alternate officer to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.[4]
Dinesh graduated from the Anglo-Chinese Junior College in 1992, and went on to study electrical engineering at the National University of Singapore.[5] He attended the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Tamil Nadu for a year between 2006 and 2007.[6][3]
Career
A member of the People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Bedok division of East Coast GRC since 2025.[7]
Prior to entering politics, he served as the chief executive of the Agency for Integrated Care, Senior Director in the Ministry of Health (Singapore). He oversaw national vaccination operations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollout of Healthier SG, a preventive health programme. He served as a Brigadier General commanding 2nd People's Defence Force in the Singapore Armed Forces.[1] During his time in the military, he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 for eight months. He was the ground commander during the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore in 2018. He also served as the lead coffin bearer, the only Indian, in the state funeral of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 2015.[6] After he retired from the Army, Dash served as CEO of Agency for Integrated Care and served in that role until he resigned in March 2025 to run in that year's general election.[8]
He served as a member of the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD). He was also an EXCO member of SINDA and a Board member of the Hindu Advisory Board.[9]
Dash made his political debut in the 2025 general elections where he was fielded in East Coast GRC helmed by Anchor Minister Edwin Tong facing a Workers' Party team led by ex-NCMP Yee Jenn Jong.[10][11][12] His team went on to defeat the WP team with 58.76% of the votes making Dash an MP-elect. He was appointed as Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Minister of State for Manpower and Mayor of South East District on 23 May 2025.[13]
